PH102 Logic 3 credits
This course presents an introduction to contemporary symbolic logic as well as to traditional deductive and inductive logic.
PH202 Philosophy in Our World 3 credits
This general education course gives students the opportunity to read a major philosophical work, Plato’s Republic, and to discuss issues raised by the text that relate to our world. Such issues include justice, artistic expression and censorship, ethical conduct, the role of women in society, the best form of government, family, work, freedom, and responsibility. The course is for first and second year students who want a serious introduction to philosophy and enjoy rigorous philosophical conversation.
PH253 History of Ancient Philosophy: Thales–Aristotle 4 credits
This course, the first of four sequential courses in the history of philosophy, is a survey of Greek philosophy from its origins in the thought of Presocratic poets and philosophers to its later development in the dialogues of Plato and writings of Aristotle. Through the close reading of primary sources in their historical context and through a wide variety of other exercises, students will gain an appreciation for the major texts, themes and problems that have shaped the Western philosophical tradition. Students will also begin to develop a facility with the various tools and terms with which philosophers in the Western tradition have worked.
PH254 History of Medieval Philosophy: Augustine – Ockham 4 credits
In this course, the second of four history of philosophy courses, students study the development of philosophy in the Middle Ages through its contact with Christianity. The goals of this course are to examine the following themes and philosophical problems: the relation of faith and reason, spirituality and philosophy; human knowledge and human freedom; and philosophy as a principle of integration within Medieval culture. Prerequisite: PH 253.
PH298 Field Exploration 1–3 credits
The field exploration provides the student the opportunity to work closely with a professor in the presentation of a course. The student will get experience in basic research and techniques involved in presenting philosophical ideas. The reading and thinking that gradually lead to a basic understanding of the various philosophical positions and to an authentic philosophical insight is one kind of learning experience. An additional learning experience comes about with the responsibility of presenting these ideas to others. The philosophy department, in providing this opportunity, recognizes that communication of ideas is an essential part of doing philosophy.
PH300 Moral Theory 3 credits
The course will begin with a thorough examination of the foundations of natural law ethics and consequentialist ethics. The instructor will then link those theories of morality with explicit assumptions regarding human nature. Central texts in the course will be Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Prima Secundae and John Stewart Mill’s Utilitarianism.
PH305 Health Care Ethics 3 credits
This course will provide a survey of some of the specific issues in health care ethics that are faced today by patients, provides, insurance companies and other constituencies in the health care arena. Such issues will include: access – how are limited resources to be allocated? Informed consent – what information must patients possess in order to make reasonable and informed decisions about their heath care? What compensatory obligations do providers have in the realm of informed consent? Funding – should the quality of health care vary by the means of the payer? Death – what is death? Also, should a patient have the right to choose the time and means of his or her death? Procedures and technologies – are all possible procedures and technical interventions moral defensible?
PH343 Contemporary Ethical Issues 3 credits
The course will examine critically the foundations of ethical or moral judgments on vital issues such as abortion, birth control, capital punishment, civil disobedience, divorce, drug-use, ecology, euthanasia, homosexuality, marriage, pre-marital sex, suicide, segregation, stealing, truth: acquiring-revealing-concealing, technology, war, and work.
PH345 Philosophy of the Person 3 credits
This course critically examines some of the most influential conceptions of the human person (e.g., the Platonic, the Aristotelian-Thomistic, the Judeo-Christian, the Hobbesian and that of other modern thinkers). It considers such fundamental issues as the existence and nature of the human soul; whether human beings are innately good, innately evil, both or neither; in what sense, if any, human beings are rational; and the nature and basis of human freedom.
PH346 Ethical Issues in the Sciences 3 credits
This course provides non-science as well as science majors the opportunity to examine key issues in the sciences in the light of major ethical theories. Among the issues to be examined are: abuses and uses of nuclear energy, behavior control and psychosurgery, chemical wastes and the environment, computerized files of personal information, computerization and depersonalization, experimentation with human subjects and animals, genetic engineering and screening, reproductive techniques, organ transplants, physician-patient relationships, and euthanasia.
PH355 History of Modern Philosophy: Bacon – Kant 4 credits
In this course, the third of four history of philosophy courses (prerequisite: PH253 History of Ancient Philosophy, and PH254 History of Medieval Philosophy), we study the major philosophical movements of the early modern period beginning with the rise of inductive natural science. We then examine rationalism, empiricism and conclude with Kant’s critical philosophy. The central epistemological theme of the course reflects the modern conviction that before other sciences may be studied with profit, the possibility and modes of human knowledge must be determined.
PH358 History of 19th and 20th Century Philosophy: Hegel – Wittgenstein 4 credits
This course, the fourth of four history of philosophy courses, is an examination of the post-Kantian philosophy focusing on selected major movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as idealism, phenomenology, existentialism, and British analytic and ordinary language philosophy. Readings may include Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, James, Foucault, Wittgenstein, Ryle, and John Paul II, among others.
PH360 Epistemology 3 credits
Epistemology is the study of how it is that humans come to know themselves and the world we inhabit. This course is a survey of theories of knowledge that span the western tradition from the Greeks to the present day. Issues raised will include the definitions of certainty and truth, the reliability of sense knowledge, the way in which we know ourselves and others, as well as other related issues raised by our authors.
PH362 Business Ethics 3 credits
The course examines critically the major ethical or moral theories that are at the basis of decision-making in the complex area of contemporary behavior we know as “the business world.” It is recommended for business majors.
PH370 Philosophy of Art 3 credits
This interdisciplinary course explores the relationship between philosophy of art or aesthetics and developments in art history. The course involves a study of traditional and contemporary theories of art, an examination of selected figures and movements in art history, and an analysis of the vital interrelationship between the two disciplines of philosophy and art. Also offered as AR370.
PH380–389 Special Topics: Philosophy 3 credits
These courses will satisfy general education requirements and will give non-majors an opportunity to explore philosophical movements, figures, and issues. Specific topics are determined by the department and student interest, and have included American Philosophy, the rise of modern science, 20th century women philosophers, and philosophy of law. |
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